An Interview with Drew Smith of Archarus

When putting together a music festival, you need variety; every band can’t sound the same. That’s one of the fucking great things about the Doomed and Stoned Festival. You can tell the D&S folks put a lot of thought into putting together a lineup that would keep people engaged and head-banging all weekend.

Indy’s own Archarus unquestionably delivers the variety. You’re not going to get droning, deep down tuned songs or slow jams with these guys. Instead you’re going to get smacked in the face with the all mighty riff! Along the way, you may also learn something about the Lizardfish with music that combines elements of thrash, prog, and a pinch of doom with a healthy love of the sea. Guitarist/vocalist, Drew Smith, was cool enough to answer some questions via email. Crank up their latest album Render Unto Archarus, put Lord of the Rings on mute in the background, and give this a read!

Indy Metal Shows: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. We’re all big fans and I’ve always appreciated the support that we’ve gotten from you since IMS started out. Can you tell us a bit about how Archarus came together. Were you involved in any other projects prior?

Drew Smith: Much appreciated and I love the support you guys provide. Anytime someone is proactive in the local circuit, I’ll find a way to help. About 5 or 6 years ago, Matt Hannon and I were in a band in Evansville with another good buddy until we all graduated. In early 2014, Matt, who was in med school near Chicago, told me he was moving back to Indy that year and wanted to know if I wanted to pick up the guitars again. I’ve never been happier with any decision than playing music again. We wrote/shared a few songs via Dropbox, even recycling a song or two from our old band. We then threw out ads for bassist and drummer, found John and Tristan relatively quickly and it’s been great ever since. Matt, of course, has since moved to San Diego with his wife. We miss him, but he’s too busy surfing to care. He’s a good kid.

IMS: How did you come up with the name Archarus? Do you ever get frustrated when it’s mispronounced or misspelled?

DS: Ha! We honestly never get frustrated. We actually always let you pronounce it first, and we keep a running tally of which ways are most popular. ARK-ER-IS is pretty common, as was ARCHER-IS (which is why we made the shirts). If anyone is curious and wants the official pronunciation, it’s AR-KER-US. Think r-care-us. We truly don’t mind, it’s our payment for making up a word. As far as the origin, we wanted something completely unique. Archarus is actually our celestial deity that takes physical form as a leviathan. Charcarodon is the genus that houses sharks, and Cetus is a Greek constellation of a sea-monster. We combined the two into Archarus. He is the lord of sea and sky, the Lizardfish.

IMS: This first thing that struck me about your music is that it’s really fun to listen to. I don’t normally pay much attention to lyrics, but these are fantastic with songs about wizards, giants, and dragons. How did you decide on these themes? Have you ever thought about doing a concept album?

DS: Thank you; we really wanted it to feel adventurous. Dragons, warriors, and wizards is really just my alley. Matt and I’s favorite books are by Tolkien and RR Martin; we’re massive Zelda and Elder Scrolls fans. It really makes sense and fits that we would just write our own dragon, viking, wizard tales. Themes and concept albums are super fun to work with. Render actually samples both types. “Sea Wolf” and “Lizardfish” occur in the same universe, and the last three songs are actually part one of an ongoing storyline called the “Atlas Elementum,” that we are going to continue on future records. While there is certainly the traditional continuing story concept, we also based the album around the concept of duality. As much as we love Tolkien and his stories of pure good vs evil, I resonate closer with the more gray character traits you’ll find in the real world. Everything has two sides, everything has another perspective, and it’s never as red vs blue as we think it is. “Tower of the Wizard” is a perfect example; both verses are mirrored perspectives on the woes of a town and the effort to blame it on something they don’t understand. Every song on the album is a fantasy tale, but they’re also all rooted in choice or a divide.

IMS: What also struck me, especially after catching you live, was how accomplished each one of you are on your respective instruments; John is a monster on the drums. What’s your musical backgrounds? How did you get into playing guitar?

DS: That’s very kind of you to say. John Mark is terrific. He catches everyone off guard because he’s not a traditional doom/stoner metal drummer. We found him on YouTube doing Dream Theater covers. It’s been a conscious effort trying to incorporate his progressive style into the standard pentatonic style that I write in. But John forces me to get out of my comfort zone and grow, and that’s really what it’s all about. Without John, every song would devolve into me doing some simple, in-the-box lick for every song. I’ve played guitar for about 10 years, but have really only been playing in a band for about 5. While in Evansville, a good friend of mine asked if I wanted to join their band. That’s where I met Matt. I was hesitant, because I wasn’t any good. I’ve learned enough to not make a fool of myself all the time, and that’s most important, haha.

IMS: I noticed that Tristan uses a Wah pedal and I think it really adds to your sound, especially on songs like “Under a Tattered Banner” and “Lizardfish.” It kind of gives them that old school Cliff Burton (Metallica) vibe. Can you talk us through your guitar rigs?

DS: It’s funny you say that. Tristan bought a Morley Wah precisely because Cliff Burton is his favorite bass player. I love the way it sounds with his Black Magic distortion, especially on those two tracks. He doesn’t use it in the traditional sense, more of a slow phaser. But there are times I’m writing a guitar track and I think, “oh, T’s wah is going to sound perfect there.” Rig talk is the fun part. I actually ABY Tristan pre-pedal train. He has an Epiphone Explorer and then we run one channel through the Dr. No and Morley to a Sunn Concert Bass on top of an Ampeg 810. Then I’ll take a clean signal and run it through a Peavey MkIII with an Ampeg 410 and a 1×15. We’re really happy with how full the bass sound is now. For me, I play a Gibson Explorer stereo through a pair of Orange TH100s. One head goes through a pair of v30 loaded Orange PPC412s and the other goes through another 412 and 212 that I built and loaded with Weber Gray Wolves. My board is continually growing but at the moment I have a Big Muff Pi, a Metal Muff, a Turbo RAT, Phase 90, and a JamMan looper. Probably add reverb and a delay in the near future as well.

IMS: Archarus is a tough band to fit into any metal genre and I think that’s part of your appeal. Was that a conscious decision or were you just creating music that felt natural to you guys?

DS: I agree with the first part. Though I feel like this is a great platform to make an official statement. We are NOT doom metal. I know you can get angst for not being “true doom,” whatever that means. Either way, we don’t pretend to be. I write what I hear in my head. It has elements of doom, elements of stoner, rock, traditional metal, some thrash, and prog as well. Tristan and I have jokingly referred to ourselves as speed-doom. I know it’s cliché for me to tell you “y’know Bryan, we don’t really like to get involved in genres blah blah” but it’s real for us. I love putting bands in boxes but we’re just a little of everything. I just tell people we’re whatever you call The Sword or Orange Goblin. We’re doom-ish.

IMS: I understand that you’re big Sword fans. What was it like opening for them and how did that opportunity come about? What’s another band that you’d love to share the stage with?

DS: Man. Greatest day of my life, and I’ve been married. HA! Honestly, the Sword is the reason I play music. They’re the reason I play the style of music that I do. They were the first band that polarized Matt, our old band mate, and myself. Hearing them gave us a musical direction. Like it sounds fanatical to say these things, but it’s really a butterfly effect. If I hadn’t heard them, I may not be involved in music. And to have the opportunity to play with your idols; the pinnacle of surreal. Splitting chicken wings with Kyle was all a kid can dream about.

When they came through, I guess they were looking for an local opener to go before Royal Thunder and RJ felt we’d be a good fit. I couldn’t thank or buy him enough beers to make it up for the chance. The most massive of kudos to Dahlia Presents for the trust and opportunity. They’re the real outfit and are clearly bringing massive acts to our often overlooked town.

IMS: What do you think of the Indianapolis music scene and how has it changed since you’ve been a part of it? What are some local acts that you feel deserve more recognition?

DS: I am incredibly new to the scene. Having moved up here from an isolated college town and only recently being involved in the metal scene, I’m constantly plagued with “You’ve never heard so and so??” So, I have a hard time discussing changes since I’m not educated enough to speak to it. That being said, I think it has gotten better in the small time I’ve been involved. Mona is regularly dropping bombs at the 5th Quarter and is a pleasure to work with. The opportunity for all of us locals to share a platform with the national acts is paramount for local scene success. I hate and love the local favorites list. I hate it because there are too many and I feel bad for not mentioning them all, but I am an avid fan of the local bands. Just to name a couple, I am in love with Thorr-Axe and Astral Mass. I count myself lucky to be friends with these great people. They’re doing things right and couldn’t be better or more talented people. Our oldest musical friends are Gorgantherron from Evansville, and we never have a bad time going back down to see them. Drude is another band that makes me rethink the way I write and play. I know I left off too many, but just check out the Doomed and Stoned compilation on bandcamp to fill in the gaps.

IMS: Render Unto Archarus came out last year and I understand that you’ve got new material already written. When are you guys hitting the studio again? What’s next for Archarus?!

DS: Yes. We actually debuted a new song last weekend. Studio time is unplanned at the moment but is targeted for mid to late fall. We’re currently writing for a special project, and in light of your earlier questions, it is in fact a concept release. It’s not an original story but a universal favorite and it hasn’t been done justice in recent adaptations. So as soon as we finish up writing and learning the last couple of tracks, we’ll hit the studio. But we’ll be teasing accordingly. We have the Doomed and Stoned fest in November, which is incredibly exciting, and we have a string of local and regional dates lined up as well. We are also aiming at putting together a small tour of shows back through Ohio and hopefully into West Virginia and Pittsburgh. But hopefully, we’ll know more soon!
Until then, surrender to the Lizardfish!

Find all of Archarus’ music on their Bandcamp and connect with them via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.